Mentoring programs

A mentor can play an important role in the life of a young person by providing support and guidance. Teen Youth Summit is committed to increasing the number of quality mentoring opportunities available to youth in our communities.

 

Although Teen Youth Summit does not directly run any mentoring programs, there are numerous organizations that can help guide potential mentors to a mentoring program serving youth who may be disadvantaged or in need of more positive guidance. And, we help to connect you with those types of organizations and youth programs in the community!

 

Youth mentoring is the process of matching mentors with young people who need or want a caring, responsible adult in their lives. Adult mentors are usually unrelated to the child or teen and work as volunteers through a community, school, or church-based social service program. The goal of youth mentoring programs is to improve the well-being of the child by providing a role model that can support the child academically, socially or personally. This goal can be accomplished through school work, communication, or activities. Goals and settings within a mentoring program vary by country and state because of cultural values.

 

Although informal mentoring relationships exist, formal, high-quality mentoring matches made through local or state mentoring organizations are often the most effective. According to The Encyclopedia of Informal Education: "The classic definition of mentoring is of an older experienced guide who is acceptable to the young person and who can help ease the transition to adulthood by a mix of support and challenge. In this sense it is a developmental relationship in which the young person is inducted into the world of adulthood."

 

Much research has been conducted on youth mentoring with the intent of determining if there are positive benefits for youth and, if so, under what conditions the positive effects are most likely to occur. The evidence is somewhat mixed, however. According to some studies, not all mentoring programs are found to have positive effects. Furthermore, some studies demonstrating positive outcomes for youth enrolled show that apparent benefits do not always last long after the intervention has ended. On the other hand, some research indicates that the use of specific best practices, like encouraging a relationship of a year or longer and providing mentor support, can be used to improve the mentoring experience. 🎧 🎵🎥
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*External Links:

• Mentorship: A Selected Bibliography

• Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring

• Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring
   

 

 

The largest mentoring program in The United States is Big Brothers Big Sisters, this program is for youth from ages 6–18. The organization implements both community-based as well as school-based mentoring, and is typically a one-on-one mentorship. There are also programs that are for specific groups of youth such as The National CARES Mentoring Movement, which was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This particular program provides strong black leaders to empower black youth in America for a better future. At the start of the program 86 percent of black fourth graders were reading below grade level, and 1,000 black children a day are being arrested. After joining the mentoring movement, 98 percent of participants stayed in school as well as avoided gang activity, and teen pregnancy. While 85 percent of youth in the program did not use drugs. Since starting in 2005, the program has since influenced over 125,000 lives of black youth. 🎬 🎓 🎤

 

The mentoring typically takes place in the community in a group setting to create positive relations amongst the youth. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences published a major report examining after-school and other community programs designed to foster positive youth development. The report concluded that very few after-school programs “have received the kind of comprehensive experimental evaluation necessary to make a firm recommendation about replicating the program in its entirety across the country.” However, the report singled out mentoring programs modeled after the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program as a rare exception, and recommended its widespread replication.

 

References:

(Britannica Encyclopedia, Youth Mentoring, Alternative Education 15thEd)

 

*Please check out our "News & Events" page for a full listing of local youth programs!